# If someone wants to commit suicide by mod, you should let them **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 25, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072 "2018-11-25T20:54:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/21 "2018-11-26T01:14:13Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Agreed. And if the moderation remains as lopsided as it was in that thread and the one it is was discussing, they will run off the remaining five conservative posters and have their own left wing echo chamber that they seem to want. Who is this “they” that you speak of? Can you cite any specific examples of either mods or other posters wanting to “run off” conservative posters? Certainly not me, and I’d be considered a liberal by American standards (though I sometimes vote conservative where I live). An echo chamber is very boring. > [@voltaire](#): > > I, for one, hope we don’t lose any conservative posters, but if many continue to choose to emulate the president… well they’re not nearly so hard to impeach and remove. Exactly this. I’m reminded of the title of one of the Dilbert collections, “I’m not anti-business, I’m anti-idiot”. Substitute “not anti-conservative” and it exactly expresses the point here. I’m also reminded of the Trump voter a day or two after the election who was on an airplane and was “celebrating” his victory by loudly, obnoxiously, and profanely telling all the “liberals” on the plane what they could do with their liberalism now. He was eventually removed from the aircraft and taken away by airport security. To some, this would be proof that not just the SDMB, but also the airlines, are anti-conservative and anti-Trump. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/22 "2018-11-26T01:15:07Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I’m not sure because the definition keeps changing. What year was transphobia deemed to be hate speech? It doesn’t matter what year it was. Transphobic speech is hate speech. If you can’t handle that, that says something pretty significant about you personally; and if the board gets rid of all 5 conservatives because they can’t resist engaging in transphobic hate speech, good riddance. Of course, not all conservatives are transphobes, so that won’t happen. But it’s grotesque to imply that transphobic speech isn’t hate speech. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/23 "2018-11-26T01:18:15Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I’m not sure because the definition keeps changing. What year was transphobia deemed to be hate speech? I don’t understand this. Are you saying that because for most of American history, it was considered normal and accepted to make white supremacist assertions, that white supremacist assertions (say, “black people are inferior”) weren’t hate speech until such assertions were no longer widely acceptable? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/24 "2018-11-26T01:23:07Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Who is this “they” that you speak of? Can you cite any specific examples of either mods or other posters wanting to “run off” conservative posters? Certainly not me, and I’d be considered a liberal by American standards (though I sometimes vote conservative where I live). An echo chamber is very boring. > > Exactly this. I’m reminded of the title of one of the Dilbert collections, “I’m not anti-business, I’m anti-idiot”. Substitute “not anti-conservative” and it exactly expresses the point here. > > I’m also reminded of the Trump voter a day or two after the election who was on an airplane and was “celebrating” his victory by loudly, obnoxiously, and profanely telling all the “liberals” on the plane what they could do with their liberalism now. He was eventually removed from the aircraft and taken away by airport security. To some, this would be proof that not just the SDMB, but also the airlines, are anti-conservative and anti-Trump. 😃 Your analogy would be more accurate if the airplane was carrying 95% left of center passengers who were making 10 profane comments/jokes per minute and then the airplane removed the pro Trump passenger after he responded. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/25 "2018-11-26T01:24:16Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > You expect an answer to that question? Seriously, the dancing around that question would put Baryshnikov to shame. I don’t think the mods could apply that standard fairly without losing a critical mass. Losing 1 or 2 right of center posters who feel compelled to push a point on principle vs losing a more numerous very vocal contingent of the ideological majority makes far more sense. Which is why the misdirection of posts not being 100% congruent is used. Refer to the post immediately preceding this one, #19. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/26 "2018-11-26T01:30:14Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Agreed. And if the moderation remains as lopsided as it was in that thread and the one it is was discussing, they will run off the remaining five conservative posters… Yeah, I keep hearing this. I started a poll a couple of days ago, and already 21 posters have said that they are happy with having Trump for President. If one speculates as to what percentage of posters have participated in that poll, then throw in all those conservatives that aren’t happy with Trump as President, and I’m pretty sure that Conservatives aren’t as extremely rare as you make them out to be. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/27 "2018-11-26T01:39:20Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Your analogy would be more accurate if the airplane was carrying 95% left of center passengers who were making 10 profane comments/jokes per minute and then the airplane removed the pro Trump passenger after he responded. First of all it’s not an analogy, it was an actual occurrence. You may or may not want to consider it as an example of how some subset of Trump’s most ardent supporters think and behave. Regardless, the point that is being made here and has been made again and again is that what is being moderated is not a political viewpoint, but insulting, obnoxious, and sometimes hateful behavior. Speaking for myself, do you really think that what I’m looking for in this board is for someone to say “you’re right” every time I post something? That I have no interest in hearing other points of view or engaging in good-faith debate? Because if you think that, you’re very much mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/28 "2018-11-26T01:42:07Z")
And we’ve had some liberal jerks over the years, too. They also get disciplined. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/29 "2018-11-26T02:39:15Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > This is my point. You are defining the rules so as to only apply to your side. That would be like me saying “Can you point to any accusations of Obama being called a Cheeto or a Nazi?” Nazi and Cheeto are insults to a person. Transphobic “jokes” are an insult to an entire group of people (including posters here). If you can’t understand the difference, I can’t help you. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/30 "2018-11-26T02:58:33Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > This is my point. You are defining the rules so as to only apply to your side. That would be like me saying “Can you point to any accusations of Obama being called a Cheeto or a Nazi?” > > btw, was “transphobia” added to the rules when I was sleeping? Not that that was what this was at all anyways. Are you complaining that’s it’s not fair to conservatives to mod against transphobia? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/31 "2018-11-26T03:13:07Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It doesn’t matter what year it was. Transphobic speech is hate speech. If you can’t handle that, that says something pretty significant about you personally; and if the board gets rid of all 5 conservatives because they can’t resist engaging in transphobic hate speech, good riddance. > > Of course, not all conservatives are transphobes, so that won’t happen. But it’s grotesque to imply that transphobic speech isn’t hate speech. By my estimation, transphobic speech was not hate speech a decade ago. While I’m keeping score, the Village Voice referred to homophobia as the last socially acceptable form of bigotry during the early 1980s. We discussed this in [2008](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=480791). AFAICT, I was the one of the few who alluded to transphobia, though I didn’t use that term as I had never encountered it. [1] Transphobic harassment to varying extents is still acceptable on this message board, judging from the fine, cogent, and admirable trans-folk that have been driven away. [1] ETA: Props to Hostile Dialect for mentioning “Bigotry against the transgendered”, and jayjay for alluding to it. 4 page thread. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/32 "2018-11-26T03:39:47Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I’m not sure if you are serious. Do you think that insulting Michelle Obama is against the rules? It’s not depending on the forum and context. Not all insults are the same. > Do you get that? How some insults towards non-posters are allowed, and others are not? Making an insult like the stupid bullshit that Alex Jones pushes that M. Obama has a penis is pretty much trolling in any context. > > I’ve given warnings for it in the past, and if it comes up again I will in the future. A joke about Michelle Obama having a penis (again, if that is what it actually was) is horrific, but a serious comment that Trump is having sex with his own daughter is perfectly fine? Which would you prefer to be said about you? This serious and thought provoking discourse you want on the board allows a thread about whether people should forgive Trump supporters in the future like we forgave the individual Nazis? There are countless posts about how Trump supporters are complete dipshits despite the fact that posters on this board have voted for him. How are those not personal insults? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/33 "2018-11-26T03:43:45Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > A joke about Michelle Obama having a penis (again, if that is what it actually was) is horrific, **but a serious comment that Trump is having sex with his own daughter is perfectly fine?** Which would you prefer to be said about you? > > This serious and thought provoking discourse you want on the board allows a thread about whether people should forgive Trump supporters in the future like we forgave the individual Nazis? > > There are countless posts about how Trump supporters are complete dipshits despite the fact that posters on this board have voted for him. How are those not personal insults? Trump said if she wasn’t his daughter, he would be dating her. He commented on Tiffany’s(?) potential for great breasts when she was a baby. He allowed Howard Stern to call Ivanka a “piece of ass” on the air. He’s condemned by his own words. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/34 "2018-11-26T03:45:30Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It doesn’t matter what year it was. Transphobic speech is hate speech. If you can’t handle that, that says something pretty significant about you personally; and if the board gets rid of all 5 conservatives because they can’t resist engaging in transphobic hate speech, good riddance. > > Of course, not all conservatives are transphobes, so that won’t happen. But it’s grotesque to imply that transphobic speech isn’t hate speech. It is amazing how the term “hate speech” is so malleable and always covers the liberal cause du jour. AFAIK, gender dysphoria is still considered a mental illness. How can criticism of a mental illness be considered hate speech? Further, I don’t think that this board has ever made such a rule or defined the contours of what is considered transphobic hate speech. It does matter what year that occurred if that year is never. If it is covered under the don’t be a jerk rule, then again, it shows how it is unacceptable to be a jerk to favored groups, but okay to be a jerk to others. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/35 "2018-11-26T03:51:32Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > It is amazing how the term “hate speech” is so malleable and always covers the liberal cause du jour. AFAIK, gender dysphoria is still considered a mental illness. How can criticism of a mental illness be considered hate speech? There’s enough to unpack in there that it could take all night. How do you manage to fit so much wrong into just three sentences? I’ll leave it to someone more patient than me. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/36 "2018-11-26T03:54:41Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > There’s enough to unpack in there that it could take all night. How do you manage to fit so much wrong into just three sentences? > > I’ll leave it to someone more patient than me. In other words, you’ve got nothing. Have fun in the echo chamber. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/37 "2018-11-26T03:59:06Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > . > > I could pass for a conservative on this board … “I’m not a conservative, but I play one on the SDMB.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/38 "2018-11-26T04:05:46Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > AFAIK, gender dysphoria is still considered a mental illness. How can criticism of a mental illness be considered hate speech? Think about your own words there. How is _criticizing an illness_ not hateful? Why else would someone criticize an illness and why else would someone defend doing that? WTAF? ETA: Again, just because the POTUS can get away with it, doesn’t mean posters here can. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/39 "2018-11-26T04:06:49Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Nazi and Cheeto are insults to a person. Transphobic “jokes” are an insult to an entire group of people (including posters here). If you can’t understand the difference, I can’t help you. This “joke” was one against a single person, Michelle Obama, who does not claim to be transgender. It was a comment on her “manly” appearance, but like how Chimp for G.W.B. and Cheeto for Trump are comments on appearances. And, again, if the rules are now construed that insults against groups of people, because members of that group are posters here, are now against the rules, then we need to take a delete key to most of Great Debates and Elections because they are mostly insults against Trump supporters and conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072/40 "2018-11-26T04:12:58Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Think about your own words there. How is _criticizing an illness_ not hateful? Why else would someone criticize an illness and why else would someone defend doing that? WTAF? So, no criticism of pedophilia allowed? That’s an illness. How about alcoholism? If you dad came home drunk every night and you call him an asshole, do you get a mod note or a warning? And you are moving the goalposts here. There is no rule against being “hateful.” Look at all of the comments about how Trump is overweight, eats junk food, etc. There is just a rule against the ever changing definition of “hate speech” creating class after class of untouchables, which again, just by dumb luck, happen to coincide with the latest group that the left has decided to favor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-wants-to-commit-suicide-by-mod-you-should-let-them/825072.md?page=3)